The Great Dirt Divide on GSPD

[lacrestadr]

They are used to make those large hay stscks!

[lacrestadr]

A couple of weeks ago, just north of Helena on the Divde Route I ran into a couple probably in their late to mid fifties, riding a DRZ650, 2 up. They had started in Eureka Montana and were heading to mexico on this route. They trailored the bike out from their h home in Micigan !

[Gyromaniac]

Originally Posted by luv2lean

These things looked similar to large metal rock sifters used in earth work, but they were made of stripped tree branches. None of the city boys in our group knew what these things were. Anybody know?

Yup. They are pretty common in the Big Hole Valley/Divide area of Montana. They're called beaver slides, and they lift up loose hay and pile it for storage. I bet you didn't see baled hay nearby.

[luv2lean]

Originally Posted by Gyromaniac

Yup. They are pretty common in the Big Hole Valley/Divide area of Montana. They're called beaver slides, and they lift up loose hay and pile it for storage. I bet you didn't see baled hay nearby.

Thanks Gyro.
Big Hole Valley beaver slides - bite my tongue - who da thunk it!

[Dysco]

Originally Posted by 12ride

We met this couple at Elkhorn Hot Springs the day after we came down Fleecer. They told us they had a website and one of the riders with me on this trip found it.

Here is a view from two peddle bike riders who thought they would ride up Fleecer.

Oh looks like they went around Lava Mt. Trail #244 (not sure but think they would have had to carry up it too.)

http://topofusion.com/fusion3.61/comments.php?id=169
12ride

Sweet Jeebus! 1100 feet in 1 mile?? I wouldn't even walk that.

[ScottMorris]

Originally Posted by 12ride

We met this couple at Elkhorn Hot Springs the day after we came down Fleecer. They told us they had a website and one of the riders with me on this trip found it.

Here is a view from two peddle bike riders who thought they would ride up Fleecer.

Oh looks like they went around Lava Mt. Trail #244 (not sure but think they would have had to carry up it too.)

http://topofusion.com/fusion3.61/comments.php?id=169
12ride

Were you the guys we let into the bathroom, or the group of two we chatted with the previous evening?

I generally believe I can ride up anything... until I prove to myself otherwise (which is often the case and definitely the case with Fleecer). Downhill on Fleecer would be a nice little challenge, but not so bad.

We did not go around Lava Mt Trail. It was one of the best sections of the GDMBR. I was able to ride (with Bob trailer) all but the very first steep/bouldered pitch. We ran into another group of moto-guys right at Lava who told us the next 15 miles were nasty like that. I don't think they were following the directions correctly because it got easy very soon.

Interesting to see so many friendly moto-guys out on the route. If you're riding in the many waterless sections please check with any cyclists to see if they have enough. Things can get desperate at times when you only have your legs to power you.

I saw there is a page with GPS data and such from someone's trip. I will have to check that out. Mine is in progress (we ride slower, so we put pages together slower too) :

http://www.topofusion.com/divide

[Wes Weber]

L2L and crew -

Excellent report, ride, and adventure! It's now on my to-do list. My wife's family lives in MT, and I have always wanted to veture from home (Golden, CO) up there via dirt. Now I just have some more motivation to do so. Great job of linking so many dirt roads. Very, very coooool.

This looked really familiar, and not in a good way...



On our way down to Ouray my bro Wayne and I crossed the same goo. I remember standing in it to check consistency and slowly sinking past my ankles. Ewww. Glad you made it across!

[rapiti]

Originally Posted by ScottMorris

Interesting to see so many friendly moto-guys out on the route. If you're riding in the many waterless sections please check with any cyclists to see if they have enough. Things can get desperate at times when you only have your legs to power you.http://www.topofusion.com/divide

You might be surprised at how many of us are present (or former) MTBers. Furthermore, I would expect you earned a fair bit of respect from the moto guys regardless if they are pedalers at home. I always did. "You rode your bike up here?!"

There are also a couple who are motors in organized races & charity rides.

With all this connectivity, it might be possible to convince moto-folk to cache water out on the trail for pedal-folk on a given trek. Pie in the sky maybe, but there is a lot of helpfulness to be found around here.


Bridgestone MB-2/IF Crown Jewel

[d0gWateR]

I thoroughly enjoyed this ride report guys, it looks like a fun trip! I was thinking of doing the Mex2Can, but this seems a little easier if you are packing all your own stuff on your bike.

Your pictures were all amazing! Thanks for sharing this with us.

Love the GSPD!

[arroyoshark]

Absolutely stunning ride report!

It's truly worth it to live in the rocky mountain chain. There's just more than a lifetime of neat places to ride and explore.

Upon seeing your pictures I find it amazing that I've been on segments of this ride over the years. I've missed a bunch too. Camped at the Green River Lakes a few years ago, but haven't been up on Union Pass for instance. I've hunted those little banded pecaries from Antelope wells to Silver City. The Storm King area in Colorado is one of my favorite hideaways. Eurobiker and I just went over Boreas Pass Last August. Camped at Seeley Lake, too and then rode up through Eureka and Rooseville.

Seeing your great pictures pretty much just cements the notion of tying all the loose ends together and doing the entire route.

....Are you listening Empedrado?

[JimC]

Here is one reason not to ride 2 up.

We believe this is the steep downhill after The Lava Mountain Trail on the ride between Park Lake Campground and Butte. This is the steep downhill that RCrabb mentions in his post about the 1878D1/Lava mountain trail. This picture does not do the trail justice, as it is far steeper than it appears in this picture, we had a difficult time walking up and down the trail.. If you compare the size of the boulders to RCrabb you can see they are of substantial size.

I think L2L’s comments about 2 up riding are right on the money, and I think they apply to riding a street bike on the ride as well. Could you do it? Probably about 80% of the route, assuming you had favorable weather and trail conditions. Would you have as much fun as we did? I doubt it. Many times during the course of this ride I remarked to myself, that it was a ride like this that the big GS’s and KTM’s, and F650’s and Tigers, etc. were made for, they were just fun to ride on this trip. Every morning you woke, you couldn’t wait to get back out on the trail and see what the day would bring, and we were almost never disappointed.

On the ride from Canada to Chama, New Mexico we probably did between 1400 and 1500 miles of dirt and gravel roads, two track trails and single track trails through some of the most beautiful country it the USA. This to me is what Adventure Touring is all about. You ride a motorcycle designed to excel on the routes you ride, through some of the most beautiful scenery nature has to offer and you have an incredibly fun time doing it. What are you waiting for!

Jim in Sacramento

[JimC]

Originally Posted by Scott Morris
Interesting to see so many friendly moto-guys out on the route. If you're riding in the many waterless sections please check with any cyclists to see if they have enough. Things can get desperate at times when you only have your legs to power you.

Thanks Scott for an excellent suggestion. I also wanted to comment on the people who do this on a bicycle, because I believe they deserve special recognition. There were many days when L2L and I would make the comment, "Can you imagine riding a bicyle, with all your gear up that!" Anyone who rides this route on a bicycle is really a rare and special person (maybe crazy as well). Riding up and over 11,000ft summits has to be incredibly physically and mentally demanding. My hat is off to these people, as there can be only a very small number of people who actually complete this ride.

Jim in Sacramento

[12ride]

Scott:
we were the group Paula let in to use the bathroom that morning at Elkhorn Hot Springs.
I went back and read your entire trip report and saw that you did go up Lava Mt. trail. - sorry for the mis statement in my previous post I just missed it in the one page that I read on your climb up Fleecer Ridge.
We were most impressed with all the folks using leg power to ride the route. Almost daily we commented about how we were glad that we could simply twist a wrist and go up those step switchbacks.
A very good read on your trip. 12ride

[luv2lean]

Originally Posted by Wes Weber

L2L and crew -

This looked really familiar, and not in a good way...



On our way down to Ouray my bro Wayne and I crossed the same goo. I remember standing in it to check consistency and slowly sinking past my ankles. Ewww. Glad you made it across!

I also immediately recognized the mud hole in your Ouray report. (great pics BTW - those high passes near Ouray are now on my ride wish list)

It was a test getting the GS across that mud. The worst part was thinking we may have to go back across it as we went down the road and started to hit more mud!

[DHackney]

In the mudhole in the prior picture, if you go to your right about 20-30 yards you can cross pretty easily.

Some posters in this thread have been asking about GPS files.

The full set of GPS files structured for a ten day dual sport ride are on my web site of our CD ride from July. The tracks from our actual route for our nine day ride are also on that page and include additional waypoints from our actual route. We rode everything we could, including some things that are not on the maps but are included on the GPS routes.

Information on how to do the ride and other resources are here.

Photos are here.

Journals are here.

It's an incredible ride and worth whatever you have to do to make it happen.

Luv2Lean - great pics and a fantastic ride report!
Doug